By Zephyria 
There weren’t many special words exchanged until the meal was over. I also focused on the food, turning my body completely towards Aska and accepting the bread and meat he fed me.
Of course, I had hands and could eat on my own, but there was no reason to refuse when he offered to feed me.
After a leisurely meal, fruit and cookies were served for dessert. I handed Aska a bunch of green grapes. I stared at Aska as he held the whole bunch and tore off grapes with his mouth.
Is the torn part not hurting anymore? He seems okay now, judging by how well he’s eating. When did he get hurt anyway? I thought of a few situations where his lip might have been torn.
Someone hit him, scratched him, bumped into him, or he opened his mouth too wide…
“…”
Suddenly, I imagined Aska opening his jaw wide and taking my thing completely into his mouth. Before I could even calm down, my lower abdomen tightened, and a dangerous moment came.
Fortunately, I had overdone it the night before, so an embarrassing situation didn’t occur.
Could his lip have torn because of that? Because he opened his mouth too wide?
Crazy…
I closed my eyes tightly and mentally recited the Imperial etiquette when something touched my lips. Aska, seeing my serious expression, held out a grape to me.
The grape entered my slightly parted lips. I moved my jaw, chewing the flesh, and completely diverted my attention elsewhere.
“I’m going to the Rollai Mountains soon. The number of people will be kept to a minimum, just five of us: me, Aska, Abyss, Zero, and Andrew.”
Zero, who had been noisily sipping tea, widened his eyes at my sudden words.
“The Rollai Mountains? Is it because of the Ruins? And who is Andrew?”
“Aska saw something near there. It’s not too far, so let’s just take a leisurely walk there and back.”
Sakira began to explain to Zero who Andrew was. Meanwhile, Abyss said to me with a slightly embarrassed face.
“If it’s the Rollai Mountains… which area are you talking about?”
At that question, I turned my head towards Aska.
“It’s near a small rural village called Pukara, at the westernmost end of the upper Nora River. We need to go there first and confirm the exact location again.”
Aska doesn’t know the exact location either. Then we might have to search when we get there. Should we increase the number of people? As I was pondering, Abyss muttered.
“It would take 20 days to walk to the upper Nora River from here.”
“20 days? Not 2 days?”
Abyss nodded at my surprised question.
“That’s if you walk quickly without resting all day. It would take Theodore two months.”
“…”
I looked at Aska again. How on earth did he say he could go there and back in two days? I was just planning to go on a light picnic, but it was a distance that required thorough preparation.
“Then walking is out of the question, we need to find something like a carriage. Or use teleportation magic.”
“We have used magic to travel long distances, but that’s not a common occurrence. There are very few Wizards who can use teleportation magic.”
“Healing Wizards are rare too, right? Why are there so many rare things?”
“Wizards themselves are rare. Even if you search the whole world, no country has as many Wizards as Actan.”
A distance that would take dozens of days to travel, not just a day or two… I frowned, suddenly feeling annoyed. But I couldn’t just not go.
Then Aska said.
“The air currents are strange near there, so it’s useless even if you find a teleportation Wizard. Coordinate setting won’t work either.”
Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard that before. I thought for a moment and said.
“Can’t we use magic to teleport to at least where coordinate setting is possible?”
It wasn’t Aska who answered my question, but Zero.
“It’s obviously impossible to teleport this many people. There’s no magic circle… Even if there was a magic circle, it would be impossible.”
“Why is it impossible?”
“Even if the formula is slightly off, you’ll end up somewhere else. It would be fortunate if it was in the sky or in the air, but if you teleport into the ground, you’ll just die instantly. That’s why when using teleportation magic, you usually fix the coordinates with magic circles at the starting point and destination.”
I thought back to when I came to Calderia from the mountains. Even then, only the three of us were teleporting, but there were several Wizards near the magic circle.
I glanced at Aska and asked.
“How were you planning to go and come back?”
“With Pipi.”
Pipi… Was that a bird? Could he fly that fast?
Anyway, it seemed like using tricks wouldn’t work, and the most ordinary and fastest way to go was by carriage.
“We have to go even if it’s far, so get a carriage first.”
“When are you planning to leave?”
“As soon as we’re ready.”
Then Sakira, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, said.
“Wouldn’t it be faster to take a ship? You don’t really like riding in carriages.”
“Ah, that might be a good idea. If we just get off at Benita near the Nora River… we can arrive much faster.”
Abyss added. As long as it shortened the time, anything was fine, whether it was a carriage or a ship. When I nodded, Abyss and Sakira began talking to each other.
“What ships are currently waiting in the harbor?”
“There are only freighters.”
“Freighters? What about cabins?”
“That’s the problem. Even if we start decorating from now…”
Hearing their conversation, I quickly interrupted.
“What cabins? We’re not going on a world tour by ship. We just need a place to sleep, so don’t do anything unnecessary.”
“But it’s where the navigators rest, so the interior is very cramped, and the beds are hard, so you’ll be very uncomfortable. We need to change at least the beds.”
Sakira, who had been thinking hard at Abyss’s firm words, said with a serious expression.
“I wonder if the bed Theodore will use will fit in there? Even a narrow bunk bed barely fits… We should just tear down the walls and combine several rooms into one…”
No, is it okay to break the ship like that? I looked at them with a dumbfounded expression and said to Aska.
“Are you in contact with Andrew?”
“I know where he is. Should I go get him now?”
“Are you done eating?”
Aska nodded, and I untied the black string from his wrist. I stood up, brushed his slightly disheveled hair with my fingers, gathered it into one, and tied it up. Then I put on his hood and walked with him to the door.
“How long will it take?”
“Less than 30 minutes. Are you coming with me?”
“No, I’m just seeing you off to the door.”
When I opened the store door and came outside, the air was surprisingly cold. My body shivered involuntarily.
“Stay inside. I’ll be back.”
At first, I didn’t think much of it, but suddenly I felt uneasy. I stared at Aska for a moment and asked.
“If you don’t come back, where should I go to find you?”
“What? Why wouldn’t I come back?”
“Just in case.”
Aska looked at me quietly for a moment and said.
“Do you remember the alley where we met last time? You remember the plaza with the fountain near there, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If you walk about 10 minutes in the opposite direction of the mansion, there’s a famous pastry pie shop. If you stand with your back to the shop, there’s an alley on the right. If you go into that alley and walk a bit more, there’s an inn called ‘Adventurer’s Rest’. Andrew is there, so if I don’t come back within 30 minutes, go there.”
The detailed explanation was so vivid that I felt relieved.
“Or you can just come with me.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be waiting, so go. Don’t follow anyone even if they say they’ll buy you something delicious.”
“Do you think I’m a child?”
I smiled at his blunt words and tried to pat his head over the hood, but Aska asked.
“Did you not tell them I’m the Imperial Princess Consort?”
“I haven’t yet. Why? Were you upset earlier?”
Aska shook his head at my question.
“It’s not that, just don’t tell them then.”
“Why?”
“I just don’t want to.”
It wasn’t a difficult request, but I was curious about the reason.
“Why don’t you want to?”
“I just don’t want to. Anyway, I’ll be back, so go inside quickly. It’s cold.”
Before I could say anything more, Aska opened the door and pushed me inside. Sakira approached me as I stared blankly at the door that slammed shut.
“I forgot to mention, Aska gave you this when you were sleeping.”
Aska? I asked, wondering if she had suddenly started using honorifics.
“Did you hear what we were talking about outside?”
“Pardon? What are you talking about?”
“Never mind.”
What was that about? I tilted my head and received what Sakira was giving me. It was a small pouch filled with tiny, colorful stones.
“What is this?”
“They seem to be various types of raw stones.”
“What?”
“He suddenly gave them to us. Fatima and the other children in the mansion all received them too.”
There was quite a lot in the pouch, and it was strange that he had given them to everyone else as well.
“Why this?”
“I don’t know either. He didn’t say anything… I’m currently collecting them all and keeping them, but what should I do with them? After checking, most of them are expensive, rare minerals…”
I handed the pouch back to Sakira.
“Aska gave them to you guys, so do whatever you want with them.”
“I understand. I’m grateful, but why did he give them to us?”
I couldn’t figure that out either.
But why didn’t he give me one? I wasn’t the first person to receive a gift from Aska.
“…”
Suddenly, I felt bad.